Growth Hub helps more than 2,000 businesses in first year

The Heart of the South West Growth Hub can help when seeking advice to start or grow a business

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ByHolly Thatcher

14:47, 5 JUL 2017

Updated15:56, 5 JUL 2017

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The HoSW Growth Hub has had real results by offering free advice and business support

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The Heart of the South West Growth Hub has helped more than 2,100 businesses since it was founded just over a year ago.

The Growth Hub serving Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay, is a free service providing access to fully-funded local and national business advice services. The team can support both new and established businesses in the Heart of the South West LEP area.

The Heart of the South West Growth Hub can help businesses to understand their options when seeking advice to start or grow a business. They have assisted more than 2100 enterprises make sense of the business support landscape and access the support they need to succeed.

The service is funded by the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership which is tasked with attracting investment to generate economic prosperity by improving local infrastructure, skills and business support.

Advisers are on hand to talk to businesses about their aspirations and can match them to a range of services which help them to improve performance. The small team have introduced businesses to 59 different schemes and identified over 235 sources of information and advice.

Help with subjects such as starting up, sales, access to finance, grant funding and digital marketing are the most frequent requests, but advice can be offered in a diverse range of topics including; international markets, innovation, growth, digital skills, employment and training.

Since the service launched in March 2016 the Growth Hub has introduced 479 businesses to business support schemes and services. Additionally, 228 businesses have benefited from face to face support from a Growth Hub adviser.

Heart of the South West LEP Chief Executive, Chris Garcia, said: "Our focus is all about driving the region's economy forward and creating better jobs and better productivity, and the Growth Hub have been doing just that.

"Driving business profitability has many challenges and access to quality business advice and guidance can be very valuable to owners and managers. The Hub offers this invaluable support for free and have already delivered, real tangible benefits for many of our enterprises, helping them launch or grow or just become more profitable.

"This region has huge potential for new and established businesses and the Growth Hub has helped us create the environment where business can flourish."

NEW OAKS FARM

Laura and Gary Walker at New Oaks Farm in West Lydford

Laura and Gary Walker, who have farmed mixed livestock at New Oaks Farm in West Lydford for 15 years, began their move into diversification after Growth Hub Business Adviser, Laura Daniel, booked them into a Heart of the South West LEP funded Pop-up Business Café focusing on finance in 2015.

The couple, who now have four lodges complete with hot tubs on their farm, received support at the Café event to develop a business plan and funding proposition.

"Over the last year we have outperformed our expectations with occupancy rates of between 85 and 100 per cent," said Laura Walker.

"The support we received has really allowed us to move in the right direction and ensure our business plan and cash-flow forecast was in good shape.

As a result of a successful first year the couple have ordered a fifth lodge, and have plans to add a sixth.

Laura and Gary contacted the Growth Hub team again when they needed help to recruit their first employee. They were introduced to the Growth Hub's Growth Support Service and received a face to face session with local Business Adviser Rozz Algar.

She said: "I met with Rozz Algar who gave me advice when we wanted to recruit a park warden for New Oaks Farm.

"Rozz provided us with great help with the employment process, which meant we had everything in place to ensure the process was successful."

Since opening, Laura and Gary have received positive feedback from guests, with many taking part in the farm tours and helping to feed the animals.

Laura added: "Farming will always be important to Gary and myself, however, to know we have the Growth Hub team on hand to help as we grow the holiday lodge business is reassuring. We will definitely be back for more help."

97% of businesses that have received support from the Growth Hub have stated in feedback that they would recommend the service.

Laura Daniel, Business Adviser for the Growth Hub, said: "Customer satisfaction is key to our service delivery. We seek regular feedback from businesses about the support we have provided. Businesses like New Oaks Farm will come back to us if they need some more help as they move forward with their plans and we can help them to identify further sources of support."

Southcombe Farm

Paul Clark, who runs Southcombe Farm in Holsworthy, used the support he received from the Growth Hub to focus on the areas of his business that had the most potential for growth.

He met Adviser Laura Daniel at a workshop. Following an initial conversation to understand the business, Laura referred Paul to the Growth Support Service for a free face to face advice session with a local business adviser.

Paul said: "I felt overwhelmed with my day-to-day jobs and was spending too much time on the wrong areas of my business, which was mainly producing grass-fed lamb.

"Working with my adviser allowed me the space to think and really focus my attention on the areas that have potential for growth - the self-catering cottages and the canoe experiences.

"My adviser was able to help me look at each area of the business separately and create steps for what needed to be done."

The support led to Paul making the decision to scale down the sheep activities on the farm and focus on the creation of a marketing and development plan for his tourism business.

Paul said: "The initial step was to create a separate website for the canoe experience business, which included online booking for the first time.

"I have also been able to focus on the USPs for the cottages, as well as begin an ongoing programme of development work at the site. My aim is to create an environment on the farm where people will want to stay, relax and enjoy without necessarily wanting to go out and about visiting attractions everyday."

This work includes the creation of a beach area on the river, the introduction of hammocks, upgrading garden furniture and creating an animal petting area featuring Paul's lambs.

"It was really straightforward to get support from the Growth Hub," said Paul. "With the changes I'm making following the support, I am really optimistic for the next year and beyond."

David Hynd, Programme and Partnership Manager for the Growth Hub, said: "Supporting rural businesses such as Southcombe and New Oaks farms is of key importance to the economy of the Heart of the South West area and we are really pleased to be able to support our rural economy.

"Another great feature of the Growth Hub is that we can work with businesses of any size and in any sector, so all businesses in the area can benefit from our service. Additionally all the services we introduce businesses to and all the information we provide is free to access due to funding from the LEP, Government and Local Authorities.

"I would encourage any business in the Heart of the South West area to get in touch with the team, we can help you get to the right advice quickly."